Every Life is Beautiful
by Zoe the Hunter
Summary: One mistake that Kairi refuses to believe is her fault ruins her life and her self-esteem. But when she is given the oppurtunity to start over in a new town with a new school, she takes it. But runnign away from her problems is a race she can't win.
1. Chapter 1

Sixteen. I am only sixteen, and already my life is ruined.

My parents are disappointed in me, only two of my friends still talk to me, and I've been locked away in my bedroom all summer long. My parents knock on the door and try to coax me out of the house, heck; they just want me out of my room. Aerith and Zack, my only friends, visit every now and then to try and help get me out, but I've only left my room for food and the bathroom.

So I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to ignore the fact that my junior year of high school will begin in one week. I fight against tears as I think about how I was treated during the last few months of school, how everyone but Aerith and Zack turned on me, and what I did.

I roll over onto my stomach, ready to throw up thinking about what I had done. Every time I try to think about it, it makes me feel sick.

I squeeze my eyes shut as memories flash into my brain. The party, my outfit, the call, the loneliness, him. Him. My parents afterwards. The doctor, the room. I sit up, shaking my head as I try to erase the thoughts.

I look out the large window and see the small town in the distance. The town that I would have to go back to soon, the town that whispers about me even as I'm thinking now. All summer my parents have tried everything to get me to leave this room but none of it worked.

"_Kairi honey, please come on out. It's beautiful outside!" my mother persuaded_

"_No." I replied, as I stared at the ceiling._

"_Kairi tell us one thing, _anything_, that you want. I'll get it for you." My father promised._

_Anything? Anything in the world?_

"_I want to leave. I want to leave this whole island and forget about everything!" I cried out before jumping up from my bed and slamming the door shut._

_I just want to forget._

But I can't. Not with everyone always talking about what happened. Not when no one else wants to forget about it.

I shakily grab the water that was placed at my side table. I drink a few sips before my phone starts to buzz. I jump, surprised, and carefully place my water down. I had forgotten what the sound of my phone was like since no one had bothered to contact me over the summer.

I grab it and star at the screen, the small light glowing as a name popped up. _Xion._ I raised my eyebrow at the name, but answered none the less. My father is an only child, so Xion and her older sister Yuffie are my only cousins. They visit every now and then, and it's always fun to have them around, but I haven't seen them in a while.

"Hello?"

"Hello? Kairi? You there? I can't hear you! Hello? Kairi? Kairi! KAI-"

"I'm here Yuffie I answered before you started talking." I smile at Yuffie's hype-active personality, missing her just from her voice.

"Oh, my bad." She giggles a bit and I hear someone else talking. There's some shuffling and then a new voice speaks into the phone.

"Hey Kai, what's up?" my smile only widens when I hear Xion's familiar, level-headed tone.

"Nothing much, what about you two? I haven't heard from you in a while." I respond, lying on my back.

"Oh, just summer stuff. You know the pool, friends…. Other things." Xion trails off. I frown. Xion's _other things _meant the gang she was in, the Organization. She said there were others her age, and even mentioned them a few times, but I never fully approved. Of course, I could never stop her either.

"Oh, well that sounds…. Fun. Um, so why are you calling?" I change the subject quickly.

"Oh right! Well apparently your parents said that you've been having a boring summer, and they wanted you to have some fun. But school starts soon so there's not really any time…. So they asked if you could stay with us and come to our school!" Yuffie squealed in the back ground at the end of the last sentence, and I could already imagine her dancing around whatever room they were in.

Go to their school? My parents wanted me to go there?

Xion and Yuffie go to Twilight Town Academy, a very high class school. Zack's cousin goes there… but I forget his name. It _would _be nice. To get away from all the people at school, to get away from the teasing, the tormenting….. _Him._

Oh God….. I hadn't even realized. By going back to school, it would be going back to him.

"Would I really be able to go?" I ask in a whisper

"Well, you kind of have to, your parents signed all of the papers and stuff already. They just decided to have us tell you. So if you don't want to, it's kind of a problem…" Xion said

"I'll go." I spoke firmly "I'll pack now. When am I coming over? What day?"

I heard Yuffie scream in the background while Xion laughed. "I have no idea! Ask your parents about it. Man I can't wait this'll be awesome!"

I laughed along with Xion, smiling for the first time in a while. After a few more words we said good bye and I drop my phone onto the bed. I jump up and carefully sneak to the door, opening it silently. I peek down the hallway and walk down the stairs looking for my parents. I peek outside small window and see my mother gardening flowers.

I glance at the long driveway and notice that my dad's car wasn't there. I take a deep breath and step out into the sunlight. It wasn't until I was outside that I realized how pale I am. I frown at the whiteness of my skin, reminding me of my eventless summer. Then it reminded me of _why _my summer was so uneventful.

Shaking it off I slowly walked down to stand behind my mom, and I leaned over to poke her shoulder. She turns so she can face me, pushing a piece of red hair that matches mine behind her ear.

"Oh, Kairi you're outside!" she exclaimed, standing up and brushing off her pants.

"Yeah, I, um, Xion called." I said

"Oh, of course! I hope you don't mind, but you've just been cooped up all summer and I thought you could use a break from Destiny Islands." Mom adjusted her sun hat as she tried to explain and I remembered our previous conversation.

"It's perfect mom, thank you so much." I hugged her tightly "When can I go? Should I start packing? How will I even pack enough stuff for the whole year!"

"Calm down darling," she giggled "I'll help you pack don't worry."

I smiled as we walked inside, thinking about how nice it will be once I'm off this island.

My name is Kairi. I am sixteen, and I have hope.

* * *

**Alritey, here it is! This story just sorta came to me while I was working on a big project. I can't tell you what the project is, or it'll ruin the surprise part of the story. ANYWAYS I have a pretty good feeling about this story, and I hope I can finish it and not have it be another abandoned one. I think that since there's only one week left of school for me, I'll have plenty of time to work on it over the summer. I'm sorry if there's any grammar errors, or if the tense is screwed up. I mix up past tense and present tense… :( **

**Review please! Tell me if I suck or not!**


	2. Chapter 2

Two days later, I was getting off the train that had dropped me off at Twilight Town just as the sun had started setting.

My mom helped me carry my things off the train (My father had to stay behind. Mayor business) and we looked around the station for my cousins. Xion had said that only she and Yuffie would be coming to pick me up, because their parents are busy. I scanned the area while my mother rambled on about something or other.

"I'm sure this will be a wonderful experience for you Kairi. A new start is _just _what you need. Oh, make sure to thank your aunt and uncle when you see them dear, what they're doing for you is wonderful. Kairi it's all so wonderful!" she exclaimed, smiling at me

"Yes mom, wonderful." I said automatically, desperately trying to find Xion and Yuffie. Then, in the massive crowd, I saw two familiar black haired girls. "Xion! Yuffie!"

They turned towards me and I waved my hand rapidly. Both of them smiled at me, and Yuffie started jumping up and down as they made their way towards me. Xion engulfed me in a massive hug and Yuffie followed suit. My mom laughed and my cousins gave her a hug as well.

"It's good to see you two, it's been quite a while." Yuffie nodded encouragingly

"I know right? It's been like, five years since we last saw you guys! Kairi you've grown so much! Look at you!" Yuffie would have kept going but Xion butted in

"Yuffie we saw her last spring break you dummy, and she looks almost the same!" we laughed while Yuffie pouted

"Well it _feels _like five years!" she defended.

"Of course it has honey," my mother assured her "but now I must be going, my train will be leaving soon. Take care you three, and watch out for Kairi!"

"Mom!" I groaned as she gave all of us one last hug before heading towards her train.

"Alright let's get going!" Yuffie fist pumped the air as Xion and I grabbed my bags. We started to leave the train station and I couldn't help but feel excited. Xion and Yuffie had visited me at Destiny Islands a bunch of times, but never once had I come to Twilight Town. So when we finally got out of the train station and into the sun, I felt my smile only widen.

I had heard of Twilight town's sunsets, but of course had never seen one personally. It was gorgeous. Shades of blue, purple, yellow, gold, orange, and red. They all set together perfectly in the sky, and I stopped to watch the sun slowly lower.

"Kaaaairi?" Yuffie's voice snapped me back to reality

"Sorry," I blushed "the sunset's just so beautiful."

"Yeah, most foreigners comment on that" Xion winked and started walking towards a long road

"What's up with the train tracks in the road?" I asked, looking at the ground

"We don't use cars to get around here, we walk or ride trolleys." Yuffie explained as we passeda big clock tower. I looked up and thought I saw someone at the top, but shook my head. No way they'd let people up there.

As we walked through the streets Xion and Yuffie pointed out shops and restaurants that they liked, Xion's favorite ice cream store, their dojo, the struggle arena, a supposed haunted house, and they pointed down a street saying that the school was down that way.

Xion also commented on the different allies, telling me where they led to. I was kind of confused as to how she knew about them, but then realized it must come with being in a gang.

Suddenly I felt uneasy. Xion said her gang wasn't dangerous, just a bunch of mischievous kids, but they probably weren't the only gang in Twilight Town. That worried me.

"Down that way are the, well not to be rude, but the slums. Don't go down there unless you're with someone who can defend themselves." Yuffie informed me. We had reached a part of the road that split into three parts, and Yuffie was currently talking about the road to the left. It looked more like a big dirty ally than a road.

"Straight is to the suburbs, most of our friends live down there." Xion explained

"What about to the right?" I asked, and we all turned towards the road.

"That's where we live." Yuffie told us and we headed down the road.

"Let me guess," I started as we approached the big gate that would lead into the few expensive houses. "All the rich important people live here?"

"Pretty, much." Xion smiled as the guard opened the gate and we started towards their house.

* * *

My cousins' house was even bigger than my own. It had only two floors but was as wide as two houses. The bedrooms, they had said, are all upstairs, while the kitchen, dining room, game room, and such were downstairs.

My room was perfect. It had pink walls, and a pink bed, with white dressers and side tables. Two doors led to a walk in closet and a personal bathroom. Both which were already stocked. A small TV hung on the wall across from the closet and bathroom, and a vanity was set right next to it. Two glass doors opened out into a balcony that overlooked the city and the beautiful sunset. I couldn't believe that they had spent so much time and money on me.

The best part was a tack board hung on the wall above my bed. Already a few pictures had been tacked onto it, with pictures of me with Xion, Yuffie, mom, dad, Aerith, and Zack. How they got some of those pictures I couldn't guess, but it was amazing that they were so thoughtful.

"Do you like it?" I turned to see Xion standing in the doorway

"I love it! You didn't need to go through all this trouble for me!" I exclaimed

"Oh please, my parents make who knows how much money a year. This room didn't cost that much." Xion waved it off, plopping onto my bed.

"But still!" I shouted

"Too bad, you're just gonna have to deal with it!" Xion stuck out her tongue and giggled

"Xion!" I laughed and sat down next to her, looking at the pictures that were on the tack board.

"Yuffie's doing her summer reading assignment, that's why she isn't here." Xion explained

"But school starts in two days, how could she procrastinate that long?" I asked, baffled.

"She's Yuffie, it's what she does." Xion laughed "Speaking of school, tomorrow we're going to go get your schedule, okay? Then maybe show you around a bit more."

"That sounds great." I sighed, lying on my bed, noticing that it was dark out now.

That night, I didn't think about what happened at the end of the school year. I just thought about how this year will go, and how my new life would be.

* * *

**Ack, you probably all think I'm dead! Well, I mean, the few of you who ARE reading this. I kind of forgot about it, what with school ending and graduation and summer starting. I hope to finish this before school starts in august, so I'll try to keep it up. But my summer is gonna be busy so, I'll try my best. I'm not gonna have a set date for updates so, please bear with me. Feel free to yell at me to update and what not, if my story is even good enough for you to read it.**

**So yeah, review please :)**


	3. Chapter 3

The next day Xion and I walked down the streets of Twilight Town, leaving Yuffie to work on her summer reading project. We waltzed down the street until we reached the road that led to the school. I stood in amazement at the large building. It was two stories tall but twice as wide as my old school.

Xion led me through the front doors and I looked at the glass cases that lined up against the walls. Inside were trophies for various sports and academic competitions. The most were for their blitzball team, which made me smile. On Destiny Islands, Twilight Town was our constant rival in world-wide blitzball. It made me wonder if they could beat my old school.

We continued down the hall and turned into the secretary's office. Xion pointed out that the nurse's office was right next door, and behind the secretary's desk was the principal's office. The secretary was an old woman who had her face stuck in a permanent frown. She scolded us about how I should have come at the designated time for schedule pick up and some other stuff.

I smiled quietly as Xion explained my transfer to the secretary, whose eyes flickered between the two of us. Finally she sighed and rustled through some cabinets before pulling out a piece of paper. She scurried away to the copying machine leaving Xion and I alone.

"You needed to come at the designated time!" Xion mimicked in an old gravelly voice, and I started to giggle, but she wouldn't stop. "Wazowski, you forgot to file your paper work last night."

Now _that_ made me bust out laughing. Of course that was the time when the secretary came back, and we both shut up as she handed me the copy of my schedule.

"And don't let it happen again, Miss. Ko." She glared at me. On that note, we left. We ran down the street back to town and collapsed on a bench.

"That totally fit her!" I exclaimed, holding my sides as I giggled.

"I can't believe she knew the next line!" Xion waved her hands in the air "Old people don't watch children's movies!" I continued to laugh as she ranted about how only kids were allowed to see such movies.

When our laughter finally died down Xion stood up and stretched.

"Alright Kairi, the day's just begun and we can spend it however we want. Would you like a personalized tour of the city?" Xion asked, holding out a hand for me.

"Why, that would be _lovely _Sir Kisaragi." I replied, taking her hand and getting up. We started walking down the street but stopped after a few steps.

"Hold up, why am I a _sir_?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

* * *

Xion brought me to all her favorite stores and shops, telling me stories about each of them. Like how, in the swim shop, her friend Axel had put on a biking and walked around in it for hours talking to random customers about how it was the highest quality and that they should buy it. Or how in the bath store, her friend Riku had pretended to be a protestor and convinced everyone he talked to that the shampoo they sold turned his hair gray. Her friend Selphie once got locked in a clothing store because she was trying on a bunch of different dresses when the manager locked up. Xion and the rest of her friends had to go save her. Her friends Sora and Roxas had a 'war' in a Toys R Us and made a huge mess in almost every aisle because they used the toys as weapons. All her friends sounded hilarious, and I realized that I had laughed more that day then the entire summer.

We stopped at Xion's favorite ice cream shop, where she chatted with the vendor and got two free popsicles. They were a very light blue color and I bit into it, expecting a blue raspberry sort of flavor.

"What is this?" I asked curiously, my taste buds confused. It was salty…. But sweet.

"Sea-salt ice cream. One of the many things T-town is known for." Xion winked "My favorite too, do you like it?"

"Yeah, it's….. Different. But in a good way." I said, biting some more off the stick. We sat down at the struggle arena, and Xion explained how the game worked, and how her friends Roxas and Hayner were pretty good at it.

As she talked about how one year, Hayner was sick during the tournament, but he was determined to still participate, I had to interrupt.

"Hey Xion, how many close friends do you actually have?" I asked. She's been telling me hundreds of stories, with all the same people, but I wondered if she considered all of them to be her close friends.

"Well, I mainly hang out with two groups of people. Some I'm closer to than others, but overall, I'm close with most of the people in both groups." She explained.

"Is one of those groups your gang?" I asked carefully

"Yeah." She admitted "But there's only about three people in the gang that I'm close to, and they hang out with my usual friends too."

I nodded and stared at my feet. Back at Destiny Islands, I only had two really close friends, even before the whole incident. Zack and Aerith were always there for me, no matter what. Xion's so lucky, to have so many close friends.

"Well, sun's-a-setting, we should head back. Yuffie's probably dying from over-working herself." Xion smiled

"That's if she even _did _any work." I laughed

"Knowing her, she probably ran off with _her _friends." Xion sighed as we made our way towards their house.

When we got inside, a maid informed us that my Aunt and Uncle would be on a business trip for the next few days, and that Yuffie left about two hours after we did.

"Think she got anything done?" I asked Xion as we made our way upstairs

"If making out with her boyfriend counts that, yeah, plenty." Xion replied sarcastically

"Boyfriend?" I jumped "When'd she get a boyfriend?"

"Oh yeah, you don't know." Xion led me into Yuffie's room. "She started dating that Vincent guy at the beginning of summer."

"Vincent? Oh him!" I remembered Yuffie constantly talking about him last spring when they'd come to visit.

"Yeah, here look." Xion poked a picture taped to Yuffie's wall, which (not surprisingly) was covered in photos.

Vincent was probably the definition of tall, dark, and handsome. Only a little scarier. In the picture he stood almost a whole foot taller than Yuffie, and his hair was abnormally long. Yet he was able to pull it off.

"He looks a little scary." I admitted

"Yeah, but he's pretty quiet, so he lets Yuffie talk a lot." Xion explained. Well, the perfect guy for Yuffie is the one who can put up with her constant chatter.

"Who knows, maybe _you'll _find a cute guy." Xion smirked, and I laughed nervously

"Yeah, maybe." I said.

But in reality, I knew that I was going to stay as far away from boys as I could.

* * *

**Yayyyyy for practical updates! Haha, I got two updates in one week! *pats self on back* so this story's moving kinda slow, but it should pick up from the next chapter, cuz guess what? KAIRI'S GOIN TO SCHOOL! Which means we get to introduce Xion's many friends and start the snowball rolling! Thanks to **MyPitifulEmbrace, Eppsilon7, and sora93kairi** for the reviews, alerts, and favorites. Oh, and just saying, I actually DID look up Vincenet nad Yuffie's heights and he IS ten inches taller than her XD. I hope you guys enjoyed!**

**Please review so I know how I'm doing!**


	4. Chapter 4

I tugged at the hemline of my plaid blue and white skirt while Yuffie finished wolfing down her breakfast. I swear, that girl does _everything _with hyper energy. Xion ran into the dining room adjusting her blouse that she had spent twenty minutes searching for.

"C'mon Kairi, if we wait for Yuffie we'll never make it to school on time." Xion grinned, tugging me out of the room and towards the front door. I faintly heard Yuffie yell back in defense, but we were already out the door.

"We have Algebra II together, and lunch but you're on your own for Chemistry, History, Psychology, PE, and English." Xion explained as she scanned both of our schedules.

"Lunch was the only one I was worried about." I confessed, happy that I wouldn't be sitting alone

"Don't worry; we have plenty of people for you to talk to." Xion laughed "We can never fit everybody into one table, so we usually jam two tables together."

"Really? Do people get annoyed?" I wondered if anybody moved them back after fifth period

"Sometimes, but nobody usually cares." Xion shrugged it off, "Look, here comes Riku and Naminé."

I peered down the street and saw a boy and a girl approaching us, the boy waved while the girl smiled shyly. The boy was tall, with a muscular build, and silver hair (or was it gray?). The girl next to him had platinum blond hair placed over one shoulder, and a small frame.

"They're siblings, just so you know." Xion whispered before they finally reached us

"Hey Xion," Riku then saw me and added "and friend."

"Hi." Naminé said with a small wave. I gave them a smile, but remained quiet.

"Hey guys, this is Kairi, my cousin I told you about." Xion told them. Riku nodded and Naminé just kept smiling

"Nice to meet you Kairi, I'm Riku." He ducked under a tree branch as we continued walking to the school

"And I'm Naminé." She added quietly

"Nice to meet you," I said slowly, my people skills kind of rusty "Xion told me about you guys."

"Oh no," Riku groaned "what did she say?"

"Not much," I giggled as Xion smacked his arm "just that you're both part of a family of assassins."

"Xion!" Naminé gasped, but Riku just smacked the raven-haired girls shoulder

"Xion you're not supposed to tell people that!" he played along, looking over his shoulders as if an assassin would jump at us right now

"Really? I thought it was free information." Xion laughed

We continued our walk to school as Riku and Xion bickered back and forth while Naminé and I talked. When we finally got to the school, we all sat down under a tree to wait for the bell to ring. Riku and Naminé pulled out their schedules to compare with us. Riku had English and PE with me, while I only had History with Naminé. Both of them had fifth period lunch as well.

The bell rang, and I rushed off with Naminé to make it to class. When we got there only a few other kids were sitting already. Naminé sat down next to the window and I placed myself in the seat next to her.

"I always sit by the window," she told me "because it always makes me feel like school isn't _too _boring."

I smiled, and winced when the bell rang. Everyone sat down and our teacher started to drone on about something or other. I glanced around the room, wondering if any of Xion's other friends were in this class. My eyes landed on Naminé, who pointed a finger at the girl in front of her. I looked over, and saw a girl with brown braids and bright green eyes, focusing intently on the teacher. I raised an eyebrow at Naminé who just giggled behind her hand.

After the teacher finally stopped talking, we had about five minutes to ourselves. Naminé took this chance to introduce me her friend.

"Kairi this is Olette, she's a friend of ours." Naminé explained

"Nice to meet you!" Olette smiled "You're Xion's cousin right?"

"Yeah I am, it's nice to meet you too." I returned the smile, thinking about how awkward it was to smile so much after frowning all summer.

"Olette's a genius, so she loves school." Naminé told me, making Olette blush

"I don't _love _school, I just like learning new things." The green-eyed girl defended

"Right, Olette's taking almost all advanced classes. I was wondering, Olette do you have Psychology last period?" Naminé continued, and I finally realized where she was going with this

"Yeah, I'm taking it as an extra class." Olette nodded

"So's Kairi!" Naminé smiled

"Really?" Olette looked back at me "That's great!"

"Definitely, I won't be alone." I replied, relieved. The bell rang again, reminding me that each period only lasted twenty minutes. We all said our quick goodbyes before leaving the room.

I walked down the hall, looking for a way to the chemistry room. I should have asked Naminé or Olette before we left. I didn't even know where my locker was, but I had all I needed for my first three classes jammed into my back pack. I glanced up and down the hall, desperately hoping for the chemistry room to pop up. Of course, since I wasn't paying attention, I knocked into someone.

"S-sorry!" I stuttered, looking at them. They were tall and lanky, with a mullet, and goofy grin.

"No problem, it's all good." He said, and since he was nice enough, I had to ask.

"D-do you know where the chemistry room is?" I asked, looking around just in case I had to run away. I should really do something about my paranoia.

"Yeah, it's right down the hall, take a left, room 408." The guy said, pointing with his finger.

"Thank you so much!" I gasped, quickly heading towards the room.

I made it in the nick of time, the bell ringing just moments after I walked in. I looked around the room and saw most people had already taken a seat. I looked around, wondering where I should sit, when I saw a blond boy who, sensing my confusion, point towards the white board. I looked over my shoulder and saw a few kids crowded around a piece of paper that had been taped to the board.

I walked over and saw a seating chart, and mentally thanked the blond boy for helping me. I saw that I was in the far back of the room, sitting next to Roxas Hikari. It took me a second to realize that he was the guy who pointed out the sheet.

I walked down the aisle of tables as the teacher told us to hurry up, and quickly sat down next to Roxas. I smiled shyly at him and he grinned and waved back. We listened as the teacher went over the curriculum, but Roxas slid a piece of paper over to me.

_I'm gonna guess that you're new?_

I glanced up at him, but he was looking forward at the teacher, so I looked down at the paper.

_Yeah._

I slid the paper back to him, and he glanced at it. A small smile appeared on his lips before he started writing again. Soon we were passing it back and forth fluently.

_I could kinda tell with how lost you looked._

_Yeah, thanks for pointing out the seating chart._

_No problem, I had a feeling you were the new kid, since I didn't recognize your name._

_Yeah, I almost didn't find this room. I had to ask a random guy in the hall where it was._

_Nice. Hey, you wouldn't happen to be Xion Kisaragi's cousin would you?_

_Yeah I am actually, let me guess, you're a friend of hers?_

Suddenly I remembered Xion's story of Sora and Roxas in the Toys R Us, and mentally smacked myself for not realizing before.

_Yeah, we've been friends since we were little._

I would have written more, but the bell rang and we all stood up to leave.

"Nice to meet you Kairi, I'll probably see you around." Roxas waved as we headed different ways in the hallway, but I quickly turned around

"Roxas! Where's, um, the English room?" I asked sheepishly, handing him my paper

"It's right down the hall over there," he pointed "and I think you might have it with my brother."

I nodded and thanked him, walking towards the room. His brother… Sora right?

* * *

**Hey everybody! So I've kinda died lately, I don't think I've updated in a few weeks, but I hope you're still reading! I wanted to introduce Sora in this chapter but I felt it would be too long… I think this is the longest chapter I've ever wrote.. written… idk. Anyway, happy 4****th**** of July to all you Americans like me! Hope you guys are gonna see some fireworks!**

**Review please! I really want some critique on my writing!**


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